Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrienne Jacobs
Hi Adrienne, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My nonprofit animal rescue, Wild Things Sanctuary Inc, came to be without any serious intentions on my end.
Since childhood, I’ve always done anything I could to help facilitate the saving of animals in need, and upon reaching adulthood that passion began to take shape. I sought employment at a vet clinic and invested in a small farm that gave me the ability to offer a safe landing place for animals of all kinds.
As my reach grew so did the farm until I realized this endeavor needed a full-scale business operation, volunteers, and even more space, time, and funding to really maximize its potential for good.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The journey to get to this point has been inspiring in so many ways. Watching the animals recover and thrive, receiving support from family, friends, and strangers!
However, while I’m fulfilling my life’s dream, it is a constant uphill battle. As with most nonprofits, one of the biggest challenges is balancing your desire to make a bigger impact with the limits of your funding so as not to overextend. I think turning an animal in need away when the budget simply doesn’t allow for it is my personal biggest struggle.
Beyond that, this is hard work. It is daily, constant, demanding, and physically taxing to meet the needs of all of these animals. I find an immense amount of joy and satisfaction in it but at the end of each day, I’m exhausted!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Wild Things Sanctuary Inc is a 501(c)3 animal rescue that is based on my 200-acre farm. At this present time, we look after over 200 animals on a regular basis. One of the things that make my rescue unique is our wide variety of animals.
My goal was to not only accommodate dogs and cats but farm animals and exotics as well – since rescues with the space and knowledge to care for those species are harder to find. Our animal family consists of horses, reptiles, pigs, cats, small mammals, cows, poultry, alpacas, parrots, goats, etc. They’ve arrived here in various ways and many of them were neglected, slaughter-bound abused, or abandoned.
In light of their traumatic backstories, many of them are not socialized and would never make for a good “pet” under other circumstances. My efforts to create huge, natural habitats for them allow them to choose how much, or how little, human interaction they’d like.
I’ve also opted to take a slightly different approach to the operation of the facility in order to respect their boundaries and needs for a quiet, stable environment and not open the sanctuary to the public, despite that potentially being a great source for revenue and education.
Instead, I’ve attempted to utilize social media to share their stories, involve the public, and continue growing our rescue efforts.
What matters most to you? Why?
After dedicating myself to this mission exclusively for the past several years, I think one of the most important things for me is educating others.
While there are certainly evil people that have contributed to the reasons animals end up in my care, I think the vast majority of animals needing a place in rescues like mine come down to a lack of education. From the owner that didn’t understand how to properly provide for the pet, they were taking in, to the general public being unaware of the desperate plights of different species in the pet or farming industries.
I strive to share not only the uplifting and adorable stories from the rescue, but also the challenges, the failures, and the devastating losses.
Contact Info:
- Email: wildthingssanctuary1@gmail.com
- Website: www.wildthingsga.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/adrirachelle
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/adrirachelle
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/adrirachelle
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@adrirachelle
